The Tree of Life
by bluebarnowl
Summary: The Tree of Life is under threat. Enemies are revived. Truths will be revealed. Love, fear, sadness, and happiness. The Bells hold the key. Artemis, Mother Nature's heir, will save the Tree. Discordia is still alive. Jack Frost will have to face two things. His son, Mordred, and a ghost from his questionable past. Artemis will also face some ghosts of her own. Sequel to ROMN Part2.
1. The Bells

_We begin the first piece of our puzzling story with a piece of the past from the Tree of Life. _

_Life was simple and happy for the fairies that lived at the tree. Love, kindness, and happiness was very abundant in the air. Four bells stood ready for anything. Gold, Brazen, Iron, and Silver._

_Oh, hear the mellow wedding bells, golden bells. What a world of happiness their harmony foretells. Through the balmy air of night, how they ring out their delight. Through the dances and the yells and the rapture that impels. How it swells, how it dwells, on the future, how it tells. From the swinging and the ringing of the molten golden bells. From the rhyming and the chiming of the bells. _

_Every month, two fairies were married. And when the two golden bells were rung, fairies from all around the tree would hear it and their joy would burst through their hearts. Each fairy would send a beam of light into the air and no beam was the same color. The lights created a giant shield that protected the tree. Each light regenerated the shield, giving it more energy. The shield kept out a dreaded thing, so horrible and feared, that not even Pitch Black would use. _

_Darkothus. _

_Darkothus, or Dark for short, kept anything or anyone it touched immortal and in eternal pain and torment. It was a dark slime with a purplish outline. One day, the bells had to taken down to be cleaned and recoated in gold. Two fairies had gotten married and no fairy knew when to fell the joy of their love. _

_That was when the Darkothus struck. _

_Two children were playing tag when one of them, stepped outside of the shield. The Dark wrapped it's sludge around the ankle of the unsuspecting child. She did not know what was happening until it was too late. She frolicked back inside the shield and she screamed as she felt he Dark spread throughout her body. The excruciating pain she felt. _

_You all must know that fairies are indeed immune to time, but not to injury. Her scream filled the air with fear. Every fairy heard it. They knew hat was happening. The Dark quickly spread, but it was struggling. The joy in the air was still there, but the Brazen bells that were now beginning to ring, was helping that joy disappear, making the Darkothus stronger. _

_Hear the loud alarm bells, the Brazen bells. What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells. Much too horrified to speak, for they can only shriek. For all the ears to know, how the danger ebbs and flows. _

_The fairies that had wings leapt into the air, hoping to escape their inevitable fate, for the Darkothus struck out. And any fairy it touched, would fall to the ground, in pain. But those without wings, stuck helplessly on the ground, knew there was no hope. They simply took it. Fighting it would only make the Dark spread faster. But the fire fairies were not being consumed because the fire brought warmth. _

_The winged fairies, leaping higher, higher, higher with a desperate desire, were all touched by the Darkothus, not knowing that they were in a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire. But this was happening because of the clamor and the clanging of the bells._

_The Iron bells then rung out. Hear the tolling of the bells, Iron bells. What a world of solemn thought their monody compels. For all the sound that floats, from the rust within their throats. And the fairies sit and groan in their muffled monotones. And the tolling, tolling, tolling feels a glory in the rolling. From the throbbing and the sobbing of the melancholy bells._

_The Iron bells meant a sad death for every fairy. The sadness, if only I could not have felt the sadness, then our hope would not have been fading. But then a wondrous light had filled the air. Mother Nature had come to help! Her powers were beyond compare. Those who were not consumed yet, felt their hope and joy growing stronger. A fire fairy ran to the last bells that I've told you about. The Silver bells. The sledges of those bells filled the air, first with silence. But then with shouts of happiness. They usually rang to tell us of the approach of midnight. Letting us know that another happy day will soon come._

_Hear the sledges with the bells, Silver bells. What a world of merriment their melody foretells. How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night. All the heavens seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight. Keeping time, time, time with a sort of Runic rhyme. From the tintinnabulation that so musically wells. From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. _

* * *

_The Darkothus faded back into the outreaches of the shield. The bells were restored to their former posts and were never taken down again. Everyone said that Mother Nature had defeated the Darkothus. But very few fairies, including myself, knew the truth. It was the hope and happiness that she brought that saved us from our appending doom. _

_We knew the Darkothus is still out there, waiting for another chance to strike. But as long as the Silver and Golden bells still ring throughout the months, years, and centuries, we will be safe. Most of the fairies, today, have forgotten about that dark and fearful day. And why we still have the bells. But it is better that they forget. __Even I still have nightmares. _

_Even though, I cannot see a thing with my blind eyes._

* * *

**This prologue is inspired by "The Bells" by Edgar Allen Poe, and the video on YouTube called: "And The Raven Brought Fire," By Betsy Lee. **


	2. Something is Wrong

**Read Return of Mother Nature and Return of Mother Nature Part 2 before reading this story or you will be REALLY CONFUSED. **

**WARNING: CONTAINS LANGUAGE, TRAUMATIC SCENES, A LITTLE BLOOD, GRAMMAR AND SPELLING ERRORS, AWESOME BACKSTORIES, AMAZING PLOTS, INCREDIBLE AND ORIGINAL OC'S, AND EXTREMELY SUSPENSEFUL CLIFFHANGERS! **

**I DON'T OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, AND THOUGH IT MAY SEEM LIKE A TINKERBELL CROSSOVER THING, IT'S NOT. I JUST BORROWED SOME STUFF FROM THE MOVIE. **

**And this one has a surprise OC. Hehehe.**

* * *

**295 Years Ago**

* * *

** ? POV**

_Darkness._

_That was the only thing I saw. _

_Then I realized my eyes were still closed. _

_I opened them to find that I was in a tree. 'What am I doing in a tree?' I thought to myself. I tried to remember anything that I could, but the only thing that came to me was my name: Jill. I heard excited whispers behind me and turn around to find human sized fairies sitting on giant tree leaves. _

_Each tree leaf had three fairies of the same group, and there were 15 fairy groups in all, so there were 45 fairies here. Each group had differently shaped wings and each fairies was a different color of the group. I tried to stand up only to have my knees buckle underneath me. I felt like I've been running for 6 straight miles. I looked around the tree and realize it was gigantic! It would make the Titanic look like a bath toy! I also saw a mirror and looked at my reflection. __I realized I'm a girl, wearing a makeshift white dress and no shoes. I had warm brown eyes and long chocolate-brown hair that reached down to my mid-back length and have Caucasian skin. And judging by my height, I couldn't be older than 15 years. _

_"Hi there!" Chirped a bright and cheery female voice. I turned around to find a beautiful (no, gorgeous!) young woman fluttering purple heart-shaped wings, lifting her a few feet off the ground. __She was at least in her late teen years with flawless, porcelain skin. She had long curly, red hair that reached the mid section of her back. She wore a pretty purple, prom dress that split down below her knees to let her walk more easily. And she wore silver high heels. _

_"Hello?" I said shyly. Her beauty was just radiant and startling, every blink was like seeing her for the first time. _

_"My name is Aphrodite. Do you remember your name?" She smiled, showing off her snow-white teeth. _

_"Jill, ma'am," I said. She giggled, _

_"There's no need to call me ma'am, call me Rose." She said. Then she snapped her fingers and 15 toadstools appeared around you. Then one fairy from each group came a put a different object on each toadstool. A paintbrush with the theater comedy drama masks, a book with a screwdriver, an egg, a diamond, a rock, a yellow shining orb, a blue shining orb, a tornado, a spear, a flower, a heart, a water drop, a flame, a small misty figure that took the form of a person, and a snowflake. _

_"Walk around and you can find your talent." Aphrodite whispered into my ear. _

_She helped me stand up and she flew over to the heart on one of the mushrooms. I didn't know where to go first so I just took a random direction and I ended up at the diamond. The fairy behind the diamond was a boy. He actually looked like he was carved out of the diamond itself. He had sparkling, amber hair with emerald green eyes and he was wearing a miner's outfit, but he didn't have wings like any of the other fairies. _

_"My name's Garnett. And I'm a Miner fairy, we mine diamonds, jewels, and minerals for other fairies to use." He said. _

_I touched the diamond and it turned back into coal. "Sorry," I whispered to Garnett. "It's okay, it just means you're not a Miner fairy." He said. _

_I moved along to another toadstool, the one with the egg. The fairy behind the egg didn't have wings either. But she had a fox skin tunic (like a cavewoman's outfit) along with the ears and the tail of a fox. It looked really cute on her with her green eyes and red hair. _

_"Hi, I'm Vixen. I'm an animal fairy. We care and help the animals of the world." She said. I touched the egg and it rolled off the toadstool and would've cracked open on the ground if Vixen hadn't caught it in time with her fast paws. _

_I quickly moved on to the flower. The girl there had tinted green skin with strawberry blond hair in a thick braid on the right side of her neck with evergreen eyes. She wore a green, short-sleeved shirt, with short green capris and green shoes with vines along her legs. _

_"I'm Persephone. I'm a Plant fairy, we help the plants grow and spread." She said. _

_The flower on the mushroom was a flower I had never seen before. It had white petals, purple frills that stuck out below green stigmas. I touched the flower's petals and it closed up and wilted. I walked towards the snowflake._

_The boy with the snowflake had short, raven black hair, with alluring crystal blue eyes. He wore a short blue T-shirt, long dark blue pants, and light brown boots. And he has wings that looked like iced snowflakes. _

_"I'm Blaze." He said. His snowy white smile was warm and inviting despite the frost he was causing to spread around him. _

_"I'm a Snow Fairy, we help Jack Frost create winter around the world." He said. _

_'Jack Frost?' I thought to myself. I hesitated when I touched the snowflake. But instead of melting it glowed. It glowed so brightly, the flame and shinning orb looked like they were just tiny specks. _

_Then I was covered in the bright light, and I could feel my outfit and my hair changing. My hair grew to my thighs and it turned white, and as it grew down, it faded into an ice blue ends. My white dress became a sleeveless shirt and ice blue capris. I had white slippers on my feet and when I looked in the mirror, I had rich blue eyes. The snowflake that glowed, became a beautiful necklace on my throat. _

_"We now have the newest member of the Snow Fairies, Jill Frost!" Aphrodite announced. Everyone cheered and clapped for me. _

_Then in the mirror I noticed I had snowflake wings of my own. I fluttered them to make them moved and I was lifted off the ground. I shot up into the giant foliage of the tree and no one tried to stop me, they were cheering me on. I burst through the canopy and saw the sight that would make anyone's jaw drop in awe. Millions of beautiful stars littered the sky. They were so beautiful and glowed in awe at the moon. _

_"Beautiful, isn't it?" A shy voice asks from behind you. You turn around to see a petite girl fairy behind you, sitting on a large leaf. She didn't have wings, but she was very beautiful. _

_She had the longest hair you would ever see, it was midnight blue with little bright, white pinpoints like stars and it reached down to her feet. Her skin was so pale, it was like looking at the moon up close. She had a long-sleeved navy blue top with a matching skirt the reached halfway to her knees and a separate skirt that was loose around her lower body that waved around in the cold winter wind. One side of her bangs covered her left eye, but the right side was clear. And saw the color of her eyes were silver. Then it struck me like lightning._

_"Are you-" I asked before she cut me off. _

_"Yes, I'm blind." She said with a proud smile. _

_"Well, then what are you doing out here?" I asked. She smiled and pointed up to the stars. "I love listening to them twinkle, it's like they're talking to me." She said. _

_I tried listening to the stars, but all I could hear was the wind howling. _

_"What's your name?" I asked. "Starla." She said. _

_"I'm Jill." I said. Then Aphrodite and Blaze popped their heads through the foliage. _

_"Hey, Jill, you ready for a tour of the tree?" She asked. _

_"Uh, yeah, sure." I said. I climbed down the tree branches and we began the tour of the Tree._

* * *

**Present Day**

I've made so many friends since that day. And they voted for me to create this years snowflakes for winter! I was so excited I could just burst! I had just put the finishing touches on the last snowflake.

"Gently...ever so gently..." I repeated to myself. "Success!" I cheered as I use my magic to make the paper snowflake become a real snowflake.

"Perfection!" I exclaimed. I gently put the snowflake in a ray with the last remaining snowflakes and placed I in a freezer in my igloo home. I decided to go out and hang with my friends. I was about to reach my front door, when a green light flashed in front of me. I blinked a couple of times to get my eyes straight again. I open my door and nothing seemed different. The snow slowly drifted down on the pine trees and it was the usual arctic temperature for Snowy Falls.

I flew out of my house and made my way to the Tree. The other snow fairies were going about their business, making frost, helping the winter animals change their fur coats from brown to white, putting other animals into hibernation. The usual stuff. As I few past the borders of Snow Falls, some of the other kinds of fairies looked at me strangely. They were giving me rude faces and gestures.

I felt more confused than hurt. Some of these fairies were my friends. I landed on one of the branches of the Tree and I made my way in through one of the holes that led into a hallway. I was about to make a turn when I saw a sign in front of me that made me lose control of my confusion and my frost spread across the entire inside of the branch. The pathway was gated with iron and thorns and the sign said:

_NO SEASONAL FAIRIES  
ALLOWED IN  
THE TREE OF LIFE  
__EVER!_

I've taken this pathway over a million times, this is so weird. I was going to turn around when I met up face to face with Athena, our fairy leader.

"What are you doing here?!" She yelled in my face.

She had long curly brown hair in a ponytail that went down to her knees, with light bluish/gray eyes, with Caucasian skin. She wore a long-sleeved, gray shirt with gray capris and gray flats. She had a leather satchel around her and it looked like there was a ton of books in there. Her gray pixie wings fluttered behind her, lifting her one foot off the ground. And on top she wore a gray crown.

"You and other "seasonal" fairies know that none of you are allowed in here!" She yelled. She put the word seasonal in air quotes. She never usually acts like this, even though she has so much pride, but she is never rude!

"Athena, what is happening? Why are you acting like this?" I asked.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at me.

"Look, I know it's hard for you seasonal fairies to understand, but you can't be inside the Tree. Yours powers would create too much chaos and put everything behind schedule." She flew above and behind me and began to shove me out.

'_Did she just call me an idiot?_' I asked myself.

Then outside the Tree, we heard a blast and a few trumpets. Athena flew ahead of me and out the hole that I came through. Out of curiosity, I followed her to see an odd occurrence. And there has been a lot of odd occurrences at the Tree, but **THIS **is weird.

A sleigh rocketed through a magical portal with two figures flying by its sides. At its reins was an immense man; tall, buff, and a little rotund. He had bright blue eyes, thick black eyebrows, and a long white beard and mustache. He wore a black fur hat, a long red coat with black fur trim, and a red plaid shirt. (I have great eye-sight).

Behind him, clutching to a seat, was a gigantic rabbit that stood between six to seven feet tall, with grayish-blue fur, flower-like imprints on both his forehead and shoulders, and bright green eyes. He wore leather bracers set with orange stones, a single-strap holster with which he carried his boomerangs, and leather wrappings on his feet.

Then next to the giant rabbit, was a short man garbed in an outfit made of gold sand, appearing as a night robe. His hair, vaguely clownish, was golden and short, styled into five points, and glittered like his robe. He also had tiny feet and golden brown eyes.

In the very back of the sleigh was a handsome boy, who had white hair, striking blue eyes, and pale skin. He had a tall stature, albeit slim. His clothing was a blue hooded sweater, with frost collecting around the ring of the collar, and trousers bound with lighter material starting from the knee down to the rather tattered and frayed bottom, and was barefoot. He carried around a magical staff with a G-shaped arch, resembling a shepherd's crook.

He seemed kind of familiar.

Then flying on the right side of the sleigh, was a part human, part hummingbird hybrid. She had tan skin and violet eyes. Instead of hair, she had feathers that made a curved upward style. Instead of clothes, her entire body seemed to be covered in mini feathers. Around her wrists and ankles there seem to be golden lines that seem to look like golden bracelets and golden anklets, as well as gold feathers on either side of her head for earrings. She also had long, drapery feathers that start at her waist line and ended at her knees. They gave the appearance of a skirt or dress.

Then flying on the left part of the sleigh, was a beautiful blond-haired girl with piercing, cat-like, sapphire blue eyes. She had her blond hair in a braid, with a white stripe on the left side of her hair. She had white, small angel-like wings. She wore a short blue Greek chiton with silver Greek sandals, that looked great with her Caucasian skin. She had a quiver of 40 silver arrows strung behind her back. In her hand, she carried a silver bow.

She also looked familiar.

Wasting no time, I flew out of the hole and gathered into the faces of the crowd. They landed and the handsome, white-haired boy was tackled by 50 different fairies. They tried to drag him to who-knows-where, but he froze half of them to get away.

"THOSE CHICKS ARE INSANE!" He shouted as he flew off to Snow Falls with the still unfrozen fairies hot on his tail.

I flew into the air, trying to follow him.

* * *

I flew as fast as my snowflake wings could carry me. I lost sight of the boy and his fangirls, but I knew they were somewhere in the Snow Falls. I looked around in the air for a few minutes before finally spotting them tearing the boy apart as he clung desperately to a tree. Thinking fast, I put on my shrilly voice.

"GIANT FALCON!" I screamed.

The girls immediately stopped tearing at the boys clothing and flew off in a haste. The boy was curled around the tree branch in a fetal position. His clothing was slightly ripped, but he was okay, none-the-less.

"You can open your eyes now," I chuckled.

He peeked through his long eyelashes and scanned his surroundings. He unfolded himself from the tree branch and took a few deep breaths.

"Thanks," he said, "I guess they're really scared of falcons."

"Uh, our falcons are quite huge and they think we are delicious." I said. This boy was so familiar!

He chuckled at my response.

"You may want to get back to your friends, before those girls realize there was no falcon." I told him.

He frowned like he just remembered something important.

"Oh, right." He began to fly, but then stopped and turned to me with a smile on his face.

"The name's Jack. Jack Frost." He said. Then he flew off.

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**So, R&R. I love reviews!**


	3. Mordred's Lullaby

**Read Return of Mother Nature and Return of Mother Nature Part 2 before reading this story or you will be REALLY CONFUSED. **

**WARNING: CONTAINS LANGUAGE, TRAUMATIC SCENES, A LITTLE BLOOD, SOME GRAMMAR AND SPELLING ERRORS, AWESOME BACKSTORIES, AMAZING PLOTS, INCREDIBLE AND ORIGINAL OC'S, AND EXTREMELY SUSPENSEFUL CLIFFHANGERS! **

**I DON'T OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS!**

* * *

**_Song belongs to Heather Dale. It's called Mordred's Lullaby._**

* * *

_**Meanwhile, in Antarctica...**_

_Our second piece of the puzzle lies within a black, crystal palace, in the heart of Antarctica. _

_Many people would say that the coldest place on Earth would be Antarctica, but I believe that the woman in charge of the palace holds the most freezing environment within her heart._

_That woman would be Discordia._

_She and her "children" live within its crystal walls. The child she favors the most, would be her new son, Mordred. Before she faked her death, she tricked Jack Frost into having a little intimate session with her. __She's as deadly and cunning as she is beautiful. _

_Her son, Mordred, is the spitting image of both of them. He had his mother's raven hair, but without the green highlights. And he has his father's rich, blue eyes and pale skin. Discordia has her uses for her son.  
_

_For a whole month, she put an aging spell on Mordred. He aged by one year per day, for sixteen days. Then when he reached sixteen, she stops the aging spell and he was now immune to time. She taught him many things. He knew sixteen years worth of magic and sword fighting skills. And she taught him to hate his father and the Guardians._

_Every night, she would tell her son about how he was conceived with a song. Her siren daughters, the original sirens, Cadence, Melody, and Aria, helped with the chorus._

* * *

_**Discordia:**  
Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep &_  
_Carry you down into sleep...  
_ _Child the darkness will rise from the deep &_  
_Carry you down into sleep... _

_Guileless son, I'll shape your belief  
_ _And you'll always know that your father's a thief  
_ _And you won't understand the cause of your grief  
_ _But you'll always follow the voices beneath_

_**Sirens:  
**__Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty, loyalty,  
_ _Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty only to me _

_**Discordia:  
**Guileless son, your spirit will hate her  
_ _The flower who corrupt my boyfriend, the traitor  
_ _And you will expose his puppet behavior  
_ _For you are the proof of how he betrayed her __loyalty... _

_**Sirens:  
**Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty, loyalty,  
_ _Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty only to me _

___**Discordia:**  
Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep &_  
_Carry you down into sleep...  
_ _Child the darkness will rise from the deep &_  
_Carry you down into sleep..._

___**Sirens:  
**Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty, loyalty,  
_ _Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty only to me _

_**Discordia:  
**Guileless son, each day you grow older  
_ _Each moment I'm watching my vengeance unfold  
_ _For the child of my body, the flesh of my soul  
_ _Will die returning the birthright she stole_

___**Sirens:  
**Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty, loyalty,  
_ _Loyalty, loyalty,  
Loyalty only to me _

_____**Discordia:  
**Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep &_  
_Carry you down into sleep...  
_ _Child the darkness will rise from the deep &_  
_Carry you down into sleep... _

* * *

_____Mordred hated his father. He hated the Guardians. And he hated the cold. His mother would also tell the story of what the Guardians were doing to make him hate them even more. The story she would tell him, was strictly from her point of view:_

_____"Mordred, the Guardians are cruel and sadistic. I must tell you this to warn you of their skills and powers. _

_____"The first Guardian is their leader, North. To the children, he is known as Santa Claus. He is an old, yet very muscular and agile man. He has an army of 1,000 yetis and 1,000 elves. He also wields two sharp sabers. He is bloody thirsty and powerful. Be sure to disarm him, if you come across him. He bribes children with gifts, in exchange, they give him power by believing in him. He gives them illusion of false security._

_____"The next Guardian is Bunnymund. He is as ugly and mean as a Pooka comes. He gives the children false hope. Hope for the children that would never come, leaving them in sorrow and pain. He tricky and clever. But his aggressive nature is his weakness. Give him no mercy._

_____"Then there is the Tooth Fairy, or Tooth as she likes to be called. She is very sadistic. She yanks the teeth right from the children and laughs in joy at watching them cry. They don't remember anything because she takes their memories so that she can enjoy the memories herself. _

_____"The Sandman is one of the cruelest of the Guardians. He fools the children into believing that the world will always be nice to them. But then they would wake up in a fool's paradise. He wants them to live in innocence before they wake up and realize that the world is dark, sadistic, and cruel._

_____"Then, there is Mother Nature. But, she likes to be called Artemis. She is as deadly as she is beautiful. She will take your heart, play with it, then break it. She uses others to her own advantage. She is a slut and will kill on sight. Don't ever be fooled by her charm._

_____"Last, but not least, Jack Frost, your father. The little bastard is the worst of them all. He loves having fun, especially with that little slut, Artemis. He raped me after we decided to start dating, and that was how you were conceived. Then he gave me this (points to eye patch) and killed my ex-husband, Pitch Black. He threatened to kill me too if I ever told anyone. If you ask him about remembering how he cheated on Artemis, he will deny it. _

_____"They are all fools. They think they can rule the world and no one would stand up to them. And you know of my birthright, I am the true heir to the throne of the Tree of Life. First it was stolen from me by Solarisa, then by that whore Artemis. But no, no longer will thieves keep us from our true destiny. Because you, Mordred, will avenge me and will secure my rightful place on the throne. You will return my crown. _

_____"You will not fail me!" _

* * *

I always believed in my Mother's stories. I've never stepped foot outside the crystal palace, but I knew one thing. It was cold outside. And I hate the cold. My father creates the cold and he loves it.

I felt a draft as I was about to fall asleep. I opened my eyes to see that my mother left my window open again. I got up to close it, but then I saw a bright light peaking through the curtains. I have never looked out my window before. Usually I could withhold my curiosity, but the temptation was too strong! I slowly and gently pulled my curtains to the sides and saw a sight I have never seen before.

"Whoa," was all I could say.

There were countless stars! Each one twinkled with it's own beauty. Instead of closing my window, I opened it further. The cold didn't bother me as the howling wind burst into my room, I kept my eyes on the night sky. It was beauty that I saw within the darkness. My entire life, or the past sixteen days, I have only seen to beautiful things, my Mother and my Siren Sisters.

But this...this is something different! My Mother once told me that they're stars. I've studied them for a while, but I've only seen pictures from books. I heard footsteps coming towards my room. I quickly shut my window and my curtains and basically jumped into bed. My mother came in to check on me. Even with my eyes closed, I could still feel her poisonous green eyes piercing into my soul.

She eventually closed the door. I opened my eyes and stared at my curtains for a while, but I didn't want to risk my chances. Despite being my Mother's number 1 son, she can be quite unpredictable. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

Because tomorrow, I'll will complete my mission at the Tree of Life.

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**Uploads will be at least twice a month.**


	4. The Shield!

_**Third Person**_

_"Mother Nature has made it to the Tree of Life." _A voice hissed in the forest on the outside of the shield. It almost sounded like the hiss of a barn owl.

_"Impossible! She was killed when she chose to become mortal!" _Long, metalized fingers scrapped against the tree of the owner of the hissing was perched on.

_"Did thou not hear? That wench named an heir to her powers," _A cloaked figure with blue fire-spitting from his eyes spoke from the shadows.

These three demons were conversing in a forest on the outside boundaries of the shield. These territories were unknown to the fairies because they did not need to travel outside of their home. But beyond the boundaries of the shield, were the lands of demons, monsters, and shape shifters. No fairies or creature of good will would survive out in these badlands for long, because demons and monsters were always on the prowl for food. And shape shifters would often trick the unsuspecting to their doom and take their valuable possessions.

_"The shield has weakened over the past 2 years! And Mother Nature's heir would not know of her mother's actions toward us!" _Hissed the barn owl-like creature, ruffling her feathers in excitement.

_"But the shield is still strong enough to hold us back. We would be wasting our time and energy." _The cloaked figure spat at the owl-like demon for being so foolish.

"Leave that to me!" Chuckled a girl who stood within the safety of the light of the full moon. It was Discordia herself.

_"Discordia, our old friend! How did you get out of your imprisonment?!"_ The metal-fingered figure gasped.

"It's a very long story. Like I said, I will get you inside the shield, and your friends too. But you can't kill her, not yet." Discordia said. The demons groaned at the thought of not being able to kill anyone.

"But just give her a good scare, she needs to know that there will be no place safe enough for her. And I have some business to deal with, concerning her boyfriend." Discordia cackled.

* * *

**Artemis**

Athena led us inside the tree, which was amazing! It was so much bigger on the inside. Fairies of every kind flew in and out, carrying projects, scrolls, blueprints an other things. No fairy was the same color. Work tables were floating in midair by magic and fairies were zipping through the air, in and out of rooms. The trunk of the tree was not actually tampered with. It looked and felt natural as I ran my hand along it.

Then we heard a large barking sound. Bunny shrieked and jumped into one of the large holes that formed within the tree trunk. Then a huge, two headed dog with gold fur came barreling in towards me. Its eyes blazed with energy and it pointed it right at me. It charged with full speed, knocking over work tables and sent most of the fairies into a panic. I stood my ground with full force. But it just jumped on me and started licking my face with two tongues.

"_Stamatí̱ste!_" Athena shouted. The two dog heads stopped licking me and looked up obediently.

"_Kathíste!_" Athena point her finger to the ground. The two headed dog got off of me and sat at my side. I stood up and wiped the dog slobber from my face.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know how animals react to me." I answered. Athena looked at me, like she finally realized I was present.

"Strange," She said, "Orthus has never acted like this before. He's usually quite shy."

She inspected my entire appearance. She blinked at me a couple of times when she looked me in the eye. She then snapped out of the trance and gestured for the other Guardians to follow her.

We again followed her but I stopped now and then to help with the fairies clean up. Some would looked at me gratefully, while others looked at me like they were trying to remember something.

She led us down a narrow corridor which led to another set of double doors that led to a huge room, like where council meeting would be held. The other Guardians passed through the room unfazed, but I was stopped by two guards who stepped in front of me.

"Hey! Let me in!" I shouted.

"This is a private section for Intellect Fairies! No authorization to Animal Fairies!" The guard on the right shouted. Jack saw my predicament and came over to help.

"Hey, let her in!" Jack shouted. The guard on the left snapped his red eyes towards Jack. Jack stepped back a little in fear. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, so I played the safe card.

"Jack, just go ahead and stay, I'm going to look around." I said.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll just look around." I gave him a quite kiss on the cheek and went off to look around the Tree.

* * *

**Time Lapse**

* * *

The Tree looked so much bigger on the inside. And there were so many rooms, it was like a castle with an indoor maze. But I made mental notes of the directions I went so I wouldn't get lost so easily.

"I wish you'd told me about this, Mom." I said to myself. Then I smelled something, and it smelled like it was old and musty. I followed my nose and the smelled lead me to a blank wall.

'_Is this a joke?_' I thought. I leaned against the wall and I heard a _CCCRRREEEAAAKKK _right before I fell down.

The wall was actually a hidden passage up the Tree. It was dark and the sound of the _CCCRRREEEAAAKKK_ echoed through the hallway. I summoned some light to come from my hand and carefully entered the hallway. It was cold and it kept getting colder as I made my way down the hidden passage. It eventually lead to a winding staircase. The staircase was aged with decay and was rotting with molds. Behind me, I heard the hidden door slam shut. But I would have to worry about that later, I was too curious to care about that.

After what felt like five flights of stairs, I eventually reached a trapdoor. And I had to try six times to open it, but I eventually busted it open. It lead to a private library in a circular room. It was small, but it was large enough to fit twenty people. It only had one window, in the far left corner. I got out of the trapdoor and started to look at the books.

But they were in a language I didn't recognize. One book actually caught my eye. It was hidden on the top shelf and I almost couldn't reach it. I used a little bit of my flight to help me grab it. It looked thick, but it was as light as a feather. It was as big as a paper folder and it's corner's and binding looked like it had dipped in solid gold. I blew the dust off the cover and it said (it the best possible way I could pronounce it):

_Descripta No Sešām Meitām De Natura Mater _

I had no idea what it said, but I knew that it was important somehow. I was about to open it, when I heard a noise. Since there was only one window, there wasn't much light to see the entire room.

"Is someone there?" I asked. I summoned some more light to my hand and shined it around. There was nothing there. I decided it was time to go. I quietly walked over to the trapdoor and crept down the spiral staircase with the book in my hand. _  
_

* * *

**Jack**

After Artemis left, Athena started the meeting.

"So, you have no idea why Manny sent us here?" Tooth asked as she flew around.

"No, all he did was say you were coming." She said. She had this intelligent look in her eyes like she was examining each and everyone of us, looking at our weak points.

"Has anything happened before we came here?" North asked.

"No, not really. But there have been reports of creatures coming in through the shield." She replied.

"What shield?" I asked.

"There is a shield that surrounds the boundaries of the Tree. It keeps the good thing in, and the bad things out." Athena said.

"What bad things are there, Shelia?" Bunny asked.

"Well, no one really knows, because no one has been stupid enough to go through the shield. And there is only one map that shows the entire island, but it's been missing for the past 250 years." She answered.

"_So what kind of creatures have been reported?_" Sandy signed.

"Oh, just a few Black-Eyed Children." She said.

"What?" We asked in confusion.

"You've never heard of Black-Eyed Children?" She asked in surprise, but she didn't seem all that surprised. We each shook our heads. Athena snapped our fingers and another fairy came into the room.

"What book do you require, mam?" He asked.

"The Humans Encounters with Black-Eyed Children." She said. The male fairy's face became as white as my hair.

"Y-Yes, mam." He squeaked.

He flew, leaving us alone. But within one second, he returned with a big book. As skinny as he was, I was surprised he could even lift it in the air. He gave the book to Athena and she picked it like it was nothing. But I don't discriminate girls. She opened the book and it magically flipped a few pages until a hologram of two teens popped up.

One was a girl, the other was a boy. They were between the age of 13 or 15. The girl had long black hair with such pale skin. The boy also had pale skin but he had short blond hair. They both wore long jeans and hoodies like mine, but they were black. The most memorable thing about them, was their coal black, soulless eyes. They were hypnotic and paralyzing, in a terrifying kind of way.

"Nobody truly knows what they are. But the humans that know of these things call them demons. They would ask a human, or fairy, to be let in to their home or vehicle or whatever. They appear to be normal kids or teenagers, but no matter what form they take, they will always have those terrifying black eyes." Athena said.

"So has anyone let them in?" Tooth asked.

"Most of the humans turn them away, especially after they get a glimpse of their eyes. They are never the same again. But, the others just see a bunch of teenagers, and they are never seen again," Athena explained, "They only started showing up within the late 20th century. Like something, or someone, has been summoning them-"

There was a sudden knock at the door. Athena closed the book shut, handed it to the assistant fairy, and opened the door.

"Lady Athena, Lord Hermes is at it again." A female voice came from behind the door.

"Ugh!" She groaned and face-palmed herself, and then turned toward us, "Why don't you guys let Persephone here show you around the Tree." She opened the door even further and a single fairy stood in the door.

She had strawberry blond hair, put in to two long braided pigtails. She wore an orange T-shirt with matching orange pants and orange shoes. She had green eyes that looked completely innocent.

"Hi!" She perked. Athena nodded her head one last time.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go punch someone in the face." Athena growled as she zipped out of the room.

"Don't worry, she's not usually violent." Persephone said. We then followed her down the hall to begin our tour.


End file.
